Adhesive underarm perspiration absorbing pad

ABSTRACT

An adhesive underarm perspiration absorbing pad consisting of a thin, flat, flexible, moisture absorbing pad, worn directly on the skin of the armpit for perspiration absorption. After the protective film ( 10 ) is removed from the pad, the adhesive side ( 14 ) is affixed directly to the skin. The perspiration is absorbed through the adhesive surface into the absorbent material of the pad ( 12 ). Subsequently, the garment of the wearer is protected from perspiration soiling and staining.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/131,264, filed on 2008 Jun. 9 by the present inventor.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not applicable

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This application relates to perspiration control and containment, specifically by an adhesive underarm pad which is applied directly to the skin.

2. Prior Art

Most products related to underarm odor control are odor masking or attempt to reduce perspiration chemically. The most common method for perspiration control is a deodorant which never fully prevents perspiration nor protects the wearer's garment from perspiration damage. There are several patents for devices which have attempted to address perspiration damage to garments, but all of the “garment pads” have the disadvantageous requirement of being attached directly to the garment, and are therefore complicated, cumbersome, time consuming, unsightly, and limited in application to garments with sleeves. No current product Has the capability of absorbing perspiration directly from the skin, containing it, and staying effectively in place, directly on the skin, until it can easily be removed.

Billions of dollars of products are sold for the control of perspiration, odor, and the protection of garments. When these products fail, the consumer incurs the additional expense of cleaning their garments, if in fact they can even be returned to their original state.

The most common form of perspiration control is the use of deodorant. Unfortunately, there is no substance that will prevent or completely control perspiration, but instead they essentially “mask” the odor caused by the accumulation of bacteria from perspiration. Even if a deodorant is capable of keeping the wearer comfortable during normal situations, when there is excessive heat, activity, or tension these deodorants typically fail miserably and the wearer will experience visible embarrassing wetness and possibly stain their garments.

Additionally, anti-perspirant deodorants typically contain aluminum which frequently leave dark stains on clothing. If the clothing can be laundered at high temperatures it is possible these stains will be removed, but delicate fabrics such as silk, wool, cashmere, etc. pose more difficult challenges and can be ruined easily by stain removal techniques.

Research in the health care field has reported the possible danger of using aluminum based anti-perspirants on the body, particularly due to the essential lymph glands being located near the area of application. There is even a large segment of the personal care market that is devoted to non-chemical deodorants. Many consumers do not wish to use anti-perspirants, which contain aluminum, even though they may be slightly more effective than non-aluminum based deodorants.

Some individuals suffer from excessive perspiration, and need to resort to injections or surgical intervention. It is known that celebrities will have their underarms injected with Botox before award shows, to avoid embarrassing sweat marks on their clothing, and to remain comfortable.

The remaining solution for perspiration control is a mechanical barrier. These consist of disposable or washable pads that need to be affixed to the garment. These shields are secured with double sided tapes, Velcro devices, “harnesses”, etc. All of these are visible and need to be worn with a garment which has sleeves.

Several types of these shields have been patented. For example, the U.S. patents 1.) U.S. Pat. No. 6,760,920, 2.) U.S. Pat. No. 6,618,859, 3.) U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,810, 4.) U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,080), 5.) U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,162, 6.) U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,088 all need to be affixed to the wearer's clothing. The application is cumbersome for the consumer and can easily be dislodged by movement throughout the wearing. Also, they may not stay consistently between the source of perspiration and the garment during normal body movement.

In contrast to currently available garment pads, the adhesive underarm perspiration absorbing pad is conveniently applied directly to the skin and thus is absorbing perspiration directly from the source and containing the perspiration before it can come in contact with the garment. It can be worn with any style of clothing since it does not require attachment to the garment. The adhesive underarm perspiration absorbing pad additionally moves with the wearer to provide protection during body and arm movements. The adhesive underarm perspiration absorbing pad is disposable, compact (less than 3 mm thick), easy to carry in purse or pocket, easily applied and is not visible during most arm movements

SUMMARY

In accordance with one embodiment the adhesive underarm perspiration absorbing pad provides the wearer with a system of perspiration absorption that attaches directly to the skin, contains perspiration effectively and protects garments from unsightly stains and damage.

DRAWINGS—FIGURES

FIG. 1 Shows the approximate shape of pad

FIG. 2 Shows application of adhesive underarm perspiration absorbing pad to armpit

FIG. 3 Shows film covering adhesive and side view of pad

DETAILED DESCRIPTION First Embodiment

One embodiment of the adhesive pad as illustrated in FIG. 1 consists of a flexible piece of silicone foam dressing-available from Molnylcke Health Care of Gotenburg, Sweden. However, the pad can consist of any other moisture absorbing material, which will wick moisture away from the body of the wearer and store it within the material. It is possible that a material will be developed eventually for the specific application of the underarm perspiration absorbing pad, including deodorizing materials such as charcoal.

Using the example of the silicone foam material (less than 3 mm thick), the pad (FIG. 3) is backed on the adhesive side by a plastic film (FIG. 3, #10), which is then removed at the time of application. When it is peeled away, the adhesive side is revealed (FIG. 3, #14) and ready for application to the skin. The pad is then placed in the center of the armpit where the sweat glands are located as shown in FIG. 2. Preliminary tests show that the device is so comfortable, the wearer doesn't even feel the pad after application. The perspiration is then absorbed into the material of the pad (FIG. 3, #12). After wearing, the pad can simply be peeled away and disposed.

Advantages

From the description above, a number of advantages of my adhesive underarm perspiration absorbing pad become evident:

-   -   (a) The device is compact, less the 3 mm thick     -   (b) The device is worn comfortably     -   (c) The device is not visible unless the wearer raises the arm         beyond 90 degrees.     -   (d) The device does not need to be affixed to clothing with         complicated straps or fasteners     -   (e) The use of the device will prevent soiling or staining of         the garment     -   (f) It can be removed easily and disposed

Conclusion, Ramifications, And Scope

Accordingly, the reader will see that the adhesive underarm perspiration absorbing pad is a completely novel approach to underarm perspiration management. This device uses a material designed to absorb moisture. In addition, the ease of this device is novel due to the fact that it is a barrier system that does not need to be attached to the wearers' garment. The ease of this devices' use is further illustrated by the easy application to the skin. The pad is then easily peeled off and disposed.

Preliminary testing indicates that this pad can be worn more than once. The superior adhesive is strong enough for several applications, but gentle enough to be used on broken skin, as evidenced in the original use of this material, as a silicone foam wound dressing.

Although the description above contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments. For example, the underarm perspiration pad can be a larger or smaller size, different shapes, or colors, as well as applied to other body parts for absorption of perspiration, etc.

The scope of the embodiments should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given. 

1. A pad to absorb underarm perspiration, comprising: a. a flexible material having said means to absorb perspiration, b. a shaped pad having said means to fit comfortably in the armpit, c. an adhesive on one side of the pad having said means to adhere directly to the skin, through which perspiration is absorbed whereby said underarm adhesive pad will easily absorb perspiration directly from the skin of the wearer 